


Supernatural, Season 4, Episode 22, Lucifer Rising

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s04e22 Lucifer Rising, Meta, Nonfiction, Season Finale, Season/Series 04, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 15:02:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and later seasons. Complete.





	Supernatural, Season 4, Episode 22, Lucifer Rising

Open to an ancestor of Crazy Eddie as a priest. Unfortunately for him, he’s possessed not by a Gua but by a demon.

Later, after using misogynistic language, he slaughters a roomful on nuns in order to temporarily rise Lucifer.

Elsewhere, everything is blurry, and then, the camera focuses clearly on Sam’s face. He and Ruby are standing by an ugly car, and for a moment, she’s blurry in the background. She tries to comfort him about his estrangement from Dean, but Sam is both determined and defeated. He doesn’t believe he’ll come out alive, and he thinks it’s good his brother is as far away as possible.

They leave.

The camera does the same blurry, focus trick on Dean with Bobby in the background. He wants Dean to call Sam, and Dean refuses. Bobby threatens to get his gun, but for some reason, Dean just isn’t buying the man who’s more of a father to him than his own father ever was will shoot him. This means Bobby’s going to have to keep talking about feelings. Neither of them wants to do this, but since Dean wants to stop the apocalypse, he’ll have to endure it until he no longer needs Bobby’s immediate help.

Going on about how Sam’s never wanted to be a part of the hunter life, Dean declares he’s unreachable due to the demon’s blood before saying he doesn’t know if Sam is truly his brother.

This is his way of expressing doubt if Sam still loves him or ever did.

There’s no simple answer.

Addiction destroys. Some people simply can’t break free of it. Some loved ones can only give so much and stick around for so long until they simply can’t do it anymore.

This isn’t about hunting. Sam re-joined the family business of his own free will, and if he truly decided to get out, he could. Dean would unhappily accept it but still love and spend time with him.

This is about Sam doing something self-destructive and hanging around a person who encourages this behaviour. Dean can’t stop him, and when he gave the choice to get better or stay away, Sam chose what most addicts choose. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love Dean, and it doesn’t mean his love for him has ever been a lie; it just means the addiction has warped him to the point it’s stronger.

Some people have no rock bottom, some people have to hit rock bottom, and some people find something to make them want to change before rock bottom comes. They latch on and gain strength to whatever it is.

Frustrated, Bobby yells and pushes the stuff off his desk. He hits every sore spot of Dean’s he can. According to him, family is supposed to make a person miserable, and I have to vehemently disagree. Then, he says Dean sounds just like John, and knowing how much Dean still idolises him, he calls John a coward.

Dean calmly protests, but Bobby says John pushed Sam away rather than reached out to him. “That don’t strike me as brave.” Continuing, and meaning every word, “You are a better man than your daddy ever was. So, you do both of us a favour: Don’t be him.”

It’s the end of the world, and Dean literally needs him more than ever. This is the only chance Bobby has to say this. I wonder if he would have said it without the Sam drama.

Dean turns away to gather himself, and when he starts to turn back to answer, he realises he’s somewhere different. He’s in a room with a lot of artwork, statutes, etc.

Suddenly, a barely in focus Cas is there. “Hello, Dean.” Looking sad and tired, he says, “It’s almost time.”

At a hospital, a demonic nurse steals a baby to feed Lilith, but Sam and Ruby appear.

In the pretty room, Dean wanders around, and when he turns, the previously empty table has beers and hamburgers on it. Zachariah and Cas appear, and Zachariah dubs the room the “green room”. He offers Dean women, and though I hate the misogyny the show sometimes engages in, one thing I do like is the way it doesn’t vilify casual, consensual sex.

Dean passes. He wants information.

All but one seal has been broken, and they want to keep Dean safe for the moment. The last seal requires Lilith, and they have a time it should happen. He asks where it’ll happen, and Zachariah assures him they’re doing their job. He just needs to focus on staying in the pretty room and letting them.

Meanwhile, the demonic nurse is unimpressed with Sam and Ruby. She points out she’s going to die no matter what. Suggesting she should worry about what happens before she’s killed, Sam starts torturing her.

In the pretty room, Dean gets Sam’s voicemail. Making it clear he’s still angry, he acknowledges he shouldn’t have said what he did, declares they’re still brothers, and apologises.

Back to Sam and Ruby, after some torture, the demon agrees to tell them what she knows on the condition Sam promises to kill her afterwards. He promises, and she gives the location of the convent Lilith will be at. Sam starts to kill her, but Ruby stops him. She explains Sam needs more blood than she can currently provide.

The demonic nurse is not happy. In response to this, knowing how much it’ll affect Sam, she lets her host retake the wheel.

There’s a flashback to the convent where Lucifer temporarily possesses the body of a slaughtered nun. It turns out the demon possessing Crazy Eddie’s ancestor is Yellow Eyes. In order to get Lilith, whom Lucifer insists is vital to his freedom, Az needs to find a very special child.

There’s a transition to Sam reading an article on what happened. Ruby thinks it’s all the proof they need. She wants to pack up the nurse and hit the road. Sam doesn’t want to take an in-control human, but Ruby insists.

Therefore, instead of tying her up or something, Sam leads the nurse out via one hand on her arm, the standard female grab area in fiction. Instead of kicking, hitting, scratching, or biting, trying to wrench free and running, or even just screaming loudly, she babbles out her life story and only shows any true resistance when he tries to put her in the trunk.

I’m assuming this car is more modern than the Impala. It should be designed with various safety features to make it easier for a kidnap victim to get out of it. Now, it’s possible she couldn’t even get the trunk open due to the devil’s trap on the lid of the trunk, but even then, she could still make the car noticeable to anyone who came across it. I was taught to kick all over, roll around, and pull at any levers, wires, etc. that I could get my hands on.

Back in the pretty room, Dean deliberately knocks over an angel figurine. I assumed this was to see if it would automatically float back up and repair itself, but as someone else pointed out, this is actually a mixture of symbolism and foreshadowing of Dean causing an angel to fall.

Appearing, Cas exposits Dean asked to see him. Dean says he needs something, and not knowing how true he’ll hold to his own words, Cas answers with, “Anything you wish.”

Dean needs to talk to Sam. Cas tries not to outright refuse, but finally, he does. Dean takes this to mean he’s trapped, and trying to rationalise this to himself, Cas claims Dean can go wherever he wants.

“Super. I want to go see Sam.”

“Except there,” Cas miserably amends.

Then, Dean will just go for a walk.

“I’ll go with you,” Cas answers.

Dean tries to leave by himself, and Cas traps him before vanishing.

In the car, Sam looks at the voicemail from Dean, and Ruby tries to get him to listen to it already. The nurse is still screaming.

I have no idea how I’d respond to being kidnapped, but this character annoys me. If she were catatonic or otherwise mentally or physically unable, it’d be understandable, but she’s able-bodied and presumably intelligent. Her being a nurse would also suggest she has the ability to deal with extremely stressful situations.

However, Ruby does bring up a point I’ve always been bothered by: Hunters often kill the demon by killing the human host. They can exorcise the demon without doing so, but they often don’t.

Sam confesses he’s starting to think Dean was right, and Ruby tries to make sure they will see the plan through.

In the room, Dean tries to break out.

Reappearing, Zacharias confesses Heaven actually wants the apocalypse to come. Dean is still important as Michael’s vessel, however. Dean asks about God, and Zacharias doesn’t know. He disappears.

At the convent, Lilith is in a grown body. She kidnaps either a security guard or a law enforcement officer.

Back in the room, Dean can’t get his phone to work, and Cas appears.

“Why are you here, Cas?”

In every scene, Cas has been sad and more withdrawn than usual. Dean knows he’s not happy about any of this, but Dean doesn’t have much hope. As he’ll soon realise, Cas tried to warn him, once, and he was made back into the perfect angel. For all Dean knows, this kind of conditioning can’t or won’t be broken again. All he can really do is hit where it’ll hurt and try to get some measure of comfort from doing so.

Cas tries to apologise, and Dean punches him. This only succeeds in hurting Dean’s hand.

Still trying to rationalise, Cas insists everything will be better in paradise. Dean will be happy.

Of course, he wants Dean to be happy, but he didn’t fall in love with Dean’s happiness. He fell in love with an unhappy man, though Dean being happy wouldn’t change his feelings. However, a person can’t be forced into happiness. Paradise would strip away free will, and Dean’s free will is what makes Dean, Dean.

This is what Dean says. He’ll take the pain and unhappiness over being a mindless slave. If he’s unhappy, he can either live with it or take steps to change it, but it should be his choice if he remains this way or not. This what he wants for Sam and Bobby, and he knows them well enough to know they want it, too. He’d rather they be free, even with how bad things are with Sam, than have guaranteed happiness, and they’d rather have this, too.

Forcing Cas to look at him, he insists Cas knows better than this. There’s right and wrong, and just as Cas could read him, Dean can read Cas. I don’t think he expects Cas to do the right thing, but he is going to point out Cas knows he’s on the side of wrong.

Cas points out, if he helps, they’ll all be hunted.

To Dean, this is something worth dying for, and he doesn’t know it, but he’s something worth dying for to Cas.

Still, Cas shakes his head and tries to cling to what he’s always known.

When he first planned to tell Dean, it wasn’t clear how much of a game changer it truly was. He was caught, and remaking his mind was a complex procedure, but part of the reconditioning was as simple as making it clear he can have his family’s love and acceptance by doing his duty, or they’ll not only withhold love, they’ll hurt him in other ways.

Declaring them done, Dean refuses to speak to him further. However, he’s sad when he turns to find Cas gone.

Meanwhile, Sam listens to the voicemail. It’s been altered to Dean saying hurtful things. I’m curious if Ruby or Zachariah did this. It gives him the determination to go on, and he lets Ruby go kill/bleed the nurse.

In the room, Dean starts to eat a burger, and I think the room might be the type where, once someone eats the food, they’re trapped forever. Look what happens later when Adam eats.

However, before he can, Cas appears behind him, throws him against the wall, and puts a hand over his mouth. With his free hand, Cas withdraws a knife, and after some nonverbal communication, Cas lets go of Dean’s mouth and starts to cut himself with the knife.

This is so cool.

Whether platonically or otherwise, Cas loving Dean is what literally saves the world. If a person takes the view he’s in love with Dean, then, the world was saved because a man fell in love with another man.

However, this is not the only good message in this.

Cas has to choose between his blood family and the family he wants to make. He has to choose between real love, which can be messy and painful, and being the good son and being accepted. Some people never break free of what their parents/family want to be their own person. Some people do, and some people wouldn’t except for the fact they find someone who is worth it. A child, a friend, a lover, so on. Sometimes, it ends in pain, but at least, they tried to be happy rather than just accepting the pain of never being free.

This is why I disagree with Bobby’s statement.

People are born, and sometimes, the blood they’re born into is their true family. Sometimes, though, the blood makes them miserable, and they leave. They go find other people, people who make them happy and who they make happy, to make their true family with.

Family is never constantly, completely happy, but if it continually makes a person miserable, it might be time to acknowledge it’s not truly family.

Drawing a sigil with his own blood, Cas explains killing Lilith opens the last seal. When Zachariah comes, he makes Zachariah temporarily disappear. At one point, he hands the angel blade, the weapon he just demonstrated to Dean can hurt himself, to Dean.

They pop over to Chuck’s house. Chuck is attempting to hire prostitutes, but he hangs up the phone when he sees them.

I hate the fact Chuck was made God. I wasn’t thrilled at the ambiguity in the first place, but I was happy to fall firmly on the side of, ‘No, he isn’t.’ Then, the show had to make it explicit he was, and even worse, they had to make it explicit to the brothers, too.

There are only two things I like about this, and one is the fact Ackles did some absolutely stellar acting when Dean was confronting Chuck after the reveal.

At the convent, Lilith reassures a shaking demon they’re going to save the world. Appearing, Sam and Ruby kill/exorcise all the other demons.

Back at Chuck’s, he says Cas and Dean aren’t supposed to be in this story, and Cas answers they’re making it up as they go. Then, the archangel shows up, and Cas emotionally declares, “I’ll hold him off. I’ll hold them all off!” He sends Dean to the convent.

There’s a brief scene of Dean there.

Meanwhile, giving Cas a small, proud smile, Chuck puts his hand on his shoulder. Cas wordlessly makes it clear this is not cool, and Chuck hastily removes his hand. Heh.

This is the other part I liked about Chuck being God. God not only knows why Cas is going against Heaven, going against his brethren, and possibly, from Cas’s point of view, what God himself wants, but he’s proud of him. Whether it’s in brotherly love or something more romantic, Cas loved Dean so much he was willing to place him above God. This is what God commanded in the first place.

He commanded it, but then, he left, and in a sense, he gave angels free will. They could follow the commandment, along with all his others, or disregard it. Everyone told Cas to disregard it, and despite his subtle rebellion throughout history, he mostly did until he found someone who made him decide on his own to follow it. Not because he was told to, not because he wanted his father’s love and acceptance, but because he himself decided it was the right thing to do.

At the convent, Dean finds Sam, Ruby, and Lilith. Seeing him, Ruby smirks before slamming and locking the door.

Hearing nothing but his heart beating, Sam starts to kill Lilith, but eventually, his brother’s shouts for him bring him back somewhat. Meanwhile, Ruby is yelling at him to finish. Then, Lilith’s laughter focuses him on her, and she deliberately strikes his weak spots.

His eyes turn black, and he kills her.

Her blood starts acting weird, and Sam realises something’s not right. Ruby reveals he just started the apocalypse, and on Lilith’s orders, she deliberately manipulated him into doing so.

Dean bursts in, and Sam holds her in place for Dean to stab her.

“I’m sorry,” Sam tells Dean.

Before Dean can respond, the seal starts to open. Going into protective big brother mode, Dean tries to shield Sam and get him out, but too busy looking at the opening seal, Sam declares, “He’s coming.”

Fin.


End file.
